Two unresolved problems are associated with transportation of coal in open hopper steel barges, namely spontaneous combustion and acid corrosion.
Spontaneous combustion occurs when heat balances become disturbed. Hydration, oxidation and bacterial decomposition all release heat in a coal pile. If this heat is not lost by convection and conduction to the outside air, the heat can build up to ignite the coal. Historically, under certain conditions, fires have developed from spontaneous combustion in the coal carried in open hopper barges, and there has before this invention been no adequate solution to prevent such fires.
Coal contains iron pyrite, a sulfur containing compound, which when the coal in the open hopper barges is subjected to rainfall, because of existing conventional conditions encountered in barge transportation of coal produces sulfuric acid solutions on the barge bottom.
The exposure of steel to acid, in an oxygen environment has caused a severe corrosion problem which is further accelerated by the heat being released by the previously mentioned reactions. This severe corrosion problem occuring within steel barges has likewise had no adequate solution in the prior art.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to solve the foregoing problems of spontaneous combustion and acid corrosion in coal carrying open hopper steel barges.
It is desirable to load barges rapidly as compared with discharge into cellars as taught in R. W. Wilcox U.S. Pat. No. 2,050,774, Aug. 11, 1936. In this patent deflectors are used at the end of a chute to slow down coal delivery to prevent dust.
Also, as will hereinafter be shown, a conical unloading pattern such as attained by this type coal loading chute is undesirable for use in barges to resolve the aforesaid major problems.